An email has been sent there. Its header reads:

The initial email below was sent by an apparently anonymous sender three years ago, alleging unethical business behavior by Norwegian search company FAST Search and Transfer. I don’t think this email has ever been made public because I can’t find it on the web. The initial email was sent to about 92 people in the search industry.

The second email is a reply by John Lervik, then CEO of FAST and now Corporate Vice President at Microsoft.

The third email is probably by the original sender, now making accusations of unethical financial practices.

I am not a lawyer but I suspect aiding and abetting securities fraud in Norway would still be an issue here in the US. I also suspect that there may be cases to make simply with the taxman (the way Al Capone finally went down). I doubt those that siphoned money off to their own personal consultancies properly accounted for the taxes (probably booked all sorts of improper expenses against it to make it look like a real consultancy)…..and the companies that booked fake revenue probably then booked the loss in a future time period and tried to take the deduction…..all big no-nos.

If anyone has documents they can anonymously send to wikileaks dot org I am sure this community will keep it visible so that it gets the attention of the various law enforcement authorities.

personally I don’t have any problem to tell everything I know. I’m sure that we can stitch all the bits and pieces together to get a full picture.

The problem is that the criminal investigation is in Norway, but most of us worked in the US (Needham, MA).

If they were investigated by SEC or DA it would be different, of course.

Of course the financial issues are immaterial as it relates to Microsoft cleaning up…but the criminal liability for anyone involved in fraud won’t be cleaned up until those accountable have their due. And it does not surprise me that Former FAST employee II does not think this is interesting – clearly a large number of FAST employees didn’t think fraud was all that interesting and chose to look the other way versus voting with their feet. I feel for the honest ones that will need to continually explain their reasons for staying to future employers.

As far as I can tell Microsoft wants to stall the inevitable of firing those involved so that they can use them to help with the integration. Microsoft is well aware of whether the execs conducted fraud. It is a sad statement about their ethics that the integration of FAST overrides doing the responsible thing. One can only hope that those looking the other way for their own selfish reasons end up being held accountable for their actions as well. It is the responsibility of this community to keep this issue visible versus letting it get buried like Microsoft and those that are guilty would like to see happen.

I do hope the honest former FAST employees find it within their conscience to contact the authorities and share what they know. In fact, it is more than about conscience, it is about being able to tell a future employer you did the right thing.

I was with FAST from day one and know the characters, the product, and business operations inside and out. The fact is, FAST is an amazing company, with an amazing platform (not product…if you want a search product, buy Google Appliance…you don’t need a Ferrari), and, most importantly, AMAZING Customers.

All of this will blow-over as it is not really interesting or important. Microsoft was clearly aware of the issues as it was public that FAST was being investigated. Microsoft bought FAST for all of the reasons above – their financial control/business operations are tight enough that any/all issues will be cleaned up.

So, bottom line, there is no story here. Trond – which former board member or employee is paying you to keep digging? It’s odd, as everyone seems to have benefited in the end…

Oh – FormerFAST3 – clearly you have no knowledge of the Overture/Yahoo!/ATW deal or of the post Inktomi, AV, FAST, Y-Search integration. Yahoo! has benefited greatly from the technology and team they acquired. And, if you tell me you work with Yahoo!, then you are almost as clueless as Jerry Yang…

Just like yahoo got nothing when they bought AllTheWeb…

Why should someone like Ali Riaz get to continue swindling people out of money, continue to live in a million dollar home, and drive a car that is geared toward a bachelor type, he’s married and has two kids!!! He is bi-polar, and his head will blow up one day!!

#31: facts would be a more powerful argument than unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks. As it is, you’re actually strengthening Trond’s case.

In Trond’s favor, his case is supported by facts FAST publishes on their own web site: http://www.fast...aspx?q=restated

As far as I know I have never been investigated. I know I have never been arrested or convicted. And in my 14 years as a journalist I have never had any of my stories tried for the Norwegian press ethics committee.

I have though once been interrogated by the Oslo Police.
http://www.jour....no/story/30748
Not because of my “inability to report the facts”, but because I had too many correct ones. The police wanted to find my alleged sources within the Norwegian directorate of immigration. They found none.

I believe he has also been investigated (or was it arrested?) in the past for his inability to report the “facts…”

As always, take everything in the above with a very, very large grain of salt…

Trond – I’m sure a few people from FAST would like to speak with you, but it’s best that we mind our p’s and q’s. Keep at it though, it makes for great reading!!

Something about Enterprise Search as an industry is just wrong. It could be pressure from the low end, but that’s part of any long-term software market. It’s also the squishy nature of the product features — the fact that no solution is all that great, and customers are bombarded with dubious promises. Customers seem to want to be overpromised and underdelivered — they’re convinced that this is necessary to be cutting edge.

I interviewed several times w FAST in Boston, and was never offered a (sales) position. I always left the interviews with an uneasy feeling that something just wasn’t quite right.

http://www.cmsw...Fast-is-Attivio

Though blogger Stephen Arnold does defend Attivio:

http://arnoldit...-so-fast-folks/

1. Aggressive sales: check
2. under delivery on features: check
3. intensive support requirements: check

I am one of the journalists behind the original story in Dagens Naeringsliv. I would be happy to speak with people who have information about subjects in our story. Please contact me on: trond.sundnes ((a)) dn.no

all that being said, i agree with the people saying that MS can clean this up. their technology, even when it is over-sold, is fundamentally sound.